## INFORMATION ON SERIES OF DOCUMENTS

| Series | BT 156, BT 157 & BT 153 | |--------|-------------------------| | **Title** | BT 156: Board of Trade: Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen: Monthly Lists of Deaths of Seamen 1886-1890\
BT 157: Board of Trade: Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen: Registers of Seamen's Deaths, Classified by Cause 1882-1888\
BT 153: Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen and predecessor: Registers of Wages and Effects of Deceased Seamen 1852-1889 | | **Structure** | BT 156 is arranged by chronologically by year, 1 volume per year except for BT 156/1, which covers 1886-1887.\
BT 157 is arranged chronologically, each volume consists of half a year (Jan to June or July to Dec), except for BT 157/1 which covers all of 1882.\
BT 153 is arranged chronologically by year. | | **Size/Scope** | Approx 6600 images for BT 156&7, Approx 15400 images for BT 153.\
BT 156 consists of 4 bound volumes, and contains lists of the death of seamen kept by the Registrar General of Shipping for 1886 to 1890. These were compiled monthly, usually from crew lists and agreements. The records provide name and age, rating, nationality or birth place, last address, cause and place of death, ship’s name, official number and port of registry\
BT 157 consists of 9 bound volumes containing the registers of seaman’s deaths kept by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen for 1882-1888. These manuscript lists classified the entries by cause and were compiled twice a year. The records give name and age, rating, nationality or birth place, last address, cause and place of death, ship’s name, official number and port of registry and also gives the information about the last voyage. The column marked ‘remarks.’ May also contain additional information.\
BT 153 consists of 22 bound volumes contains registers of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen containing entries of the receipt of dead sailors’ wages and effects (such as clothes of sea-chests), or their proceeds, handed to Shipping Masters by the masters of British ships |

Whilst The National Archives endeavours to ensure that the information is correct, in no event shall The National Archives be responsible for any loss or damage of any kind arising out of access to or reliance on or use of any information. This document is intended to provide guidance only and it is recommended that personal research of the records be undertaken. | Series | BT 156, BT 157 & BT 153 | |--------|-------------------------| | **Physical Format and Condition** | Large bound registers, stored in cardboard boxes, the majority of which are approx. A2 size although size is highly variable. Condition is good, although some pages are creased with torn edges, some paper is fragile. Some pages are blank in a small number of cases. BT 153 has variable, sometimes poor condition of binding, some is fragile. BT 156 is compiled of foliated printed lists, while BT 157 consists of manuscript registers. Mainly fair to good condition, the condition of bindings is variable. Approx 150-200 pages per volume in BT 156, 250-350 in BT 157, and 400 pages in BT 153, pages are double sided in the main, a mixture of printed forms and handwritten information. | | **Popularity** | In conjunction with the BT 334 registers, these lists could be extremely valuable to family historians for tracing merchant seamen who died at sea. It is expected that popularity would increase with increase in the general knowledge on availability of the records. | | **Copyright clearance** | Crown Copyright | | **Research Guide** | Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea | | **Possible areas for indexing** | Name, Date of Death, Name of Ship, Official Number of Ship |

Whilst The National Archives endeavours to ensure that the information is correct, in no event shall The National Archives be responsible for any loss or damage of any kind arising out of access to or reliance on or use of any information. This document is intended to provide guidance only and it is recommended that personal research of the records be undertaken.